Texas late fee calculator

Six percent a year, and not from day one. Tex. Fin. Code section 302.002 says that if you have not agreed to charge interest, you may charge 6 percent a year beginning on the 30th day after the amount is due. Before that 30th day, this statute does not give you interest. It does not give you 1.5 percent a month on any day. Section 302.001's 10 percent line is the general maximum only when no other statute raises it. For a silent invoice, quote 302.002, count 30 days, then run 6 percent.

Yes, as simple interest. 1.5 percent a month is 18 percent a year. Tex. Fin. Code section 303.009(a) says that if the computed ceiling would be less than 18 percent, the ceiling is 18 percent. A written rate at 18 percent therefore stays inside the ceiling no matter what the weekly computation does. You need the rate in the contract. Section 303.009 is not a rate the state adds to a blank invoice. It is the reason a written 18 percent is defensible. Keep the math simple.

Sometimes, and I would not do it from this page. Section 303.009(c) says that for credit extended for a business, commercial, or investment purpose, the limitation on the computed ceiling is 28 percent a year. The actual ceiling in a given week can be anywhere from 18 percent up to that 28 percent stop. A rate of 22 percent might be lawful one week and over the ceiling another week. Checking the current ceiling is a finance company chore, not a freelancer chore. Write 18 percent or less and you do not have to look up the week.

Twenty thousand dollars. Government Code section 27.031 gives a justice court jurisdiction over civil cases up to that amount. People still say $10,000 because that was the old number. It changed. If your invoice plus the interest section 302.002 or your contract actually allows is over $20,000, justice court is the wrong filing. County court or district court is next, and the 4 year statute does not get longer because you filed in the wrong place. Bring the contract if you are claiming more than 6 percent. The judge will ask where the rate is written.

Four years. Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.004 gives four years for a suit on a debt. That is shorter than New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. A Texas invoice from five years ago is probably gone even if you have perfect emails. The clock runs from the date the cause of action accrues, typically the missed payment. Do not spend year three 'giving them space' with no written acknowledgment. If you are near the end of year three, look at justice court while the claim is still under $20,000 and still inside the four years.

No. Government Code chapter 2251 is the prompt payment chapter for government entities. Property Code chapter 28 is prompt payment on private construction projects, with its own interest rate for those contracts. A freelance invoice that is not a construction contract and not a bill to the government is outside both. Your numbers are section 302.002 if you agreed to nothing, or the written rate up to the section 303.009 ceiling if you agreed to interest. Do not threaten a construction prompt payment rate on a consulting invoice. The client, or their lawyer, will notice.

Not always, and you should not guess. Section 306.006 allows a delinquency charge of up to 5 percent of an installment on a commercial loan, after at least 10 days, in addition to interest. That is a loan statute, not a blanket rule for every invoice. A flat fee on a service invoice is safest when the contract calls it a late fee, states the amount, and you are not also stacking a high interest rate that fails the ceiling once the fee is counted. If you want one charge, pick interest under chapter 303 or a written flat fee.

Only when you never agreed to a rate. Section 302.002's 30 day wait is part of the silent contract rule, along with the 6 percent rate. If the contract says interest starts the day after the due date at 1.5 percent a month, you follow the contract, subject to the ceiling. If the contract says nothing, you wait 30 days and then use 6 percent. Mixing them, by waiting 30 days and then charging 18 percent, is the worst of both rules. Read the invoice you actually sent.

No. Texas property law limits late fees in residential leases. Those limits are about rent. They are not Tex. Fin. Code section 302.002 or section 303.009. A client who forwards you a landlord tenant article is changing the subject. Answer with the Finance Code section that matches your paper: 302.002 if you stated no rate, or 303.009 if you stated a rate at or under 18 percent. If the debt is actually unpaid rent, close this calculator and read the property statute. Labeling rent as an 'invoice' does not move it into the commercial ceiling.